This invention relates to barbecues primarily of the outdoor, solid fuel-burning type and more particularly to a barbecue construction which utilizes discarded or damaged dual truck wheels to form the base and the firebox.
Barbecues have been long known in the art, and comprise a variety of types ranging from a simple pit to very elaborate, sometimes sophisticated cooking centers. This invention is primarily concerned with the more heavily used basic constructions found outdoors in federal and state parks, campgrounds, rest stops, picnic areas and the like.
Heretofore, such barbecues have typically comprised brick fire boxes with grills laying over the fire area, or pedestal mounted metal boxes with grills positioned thereon for pots, pans, hot dogs and hamburgers. Generally, for cost reasons, most of these barbecues do not include such amenities as provision for adjusting the height of a grill over the fire, various cooking implements arranged to assist in various different types of cooking, and the like, but more importantly, the constructions of the prior art have necessarily tended to be particularly cost conscious because of the deleterious effects of weather, continued heating and cooling, and most notably, inevitable damage due to vandalism and theft attempts.
Large brick constructions are inefficient and wasteful of fuel, and the potential of vandalism could involve rather significant repair time and associated cost. Metal barbecues have typically been produced with metals that suffer significant warping from continued heating and cooling and deterioration from the outside elements, and as a result, require continual maintenance, repair and replacement. The manufacturing costs have had to be cut to a minimum because of the fact that they are intended for parks and the like where use is free to the public, damage from vandalism is a common occurrence, and because of the great numbers of barbecues purchased for all these areas. Accordingly, durable, efficient and quality barbecue constructions have not been affordable nor provided to the areas that would most greatly benefit from such a construction.
There is therefore experienced an unfulfilled need for efficient, highly durable outdoor barbecues that are of such a construction that they are economical to manufacture and hence to purchase in large numbers, are more resistant to vandalism attempts, and are not susceptible to heat and weather related damage, while also preferably affording the user more control in cooking. Coincidentally, in today's ever increasingly overcrowded landfills and dumps, there is also being experienced a need to utilize the thousands of items that are simply being discarded and are accumulating at an alarming rate. Used dual truck wheels represent a great encumbrance to these places, as these wheels are large, very heavy, not reusable, and do not decompose over time, and hence do nothing more than take up great amounts of space all over the country.